Pickle Time

My in-laws planted a ton of pickles in the garden this year so you know what that means....I had to can some. This was the first year doing it by myself, usually I head over to Mom's house and destroy her kitchen for a day but I just had a small batch to do this year and I think Mom still has pickles coming out of her ears from last year. Gary is obsessed with pickles and brings the jar our for every meal. I got up early to get them done before my kitchen got to hot. Aiden decided he was going to help me ( excuse his outfit of just underwear it's been hot lately). We got started cutting and stirring before Owen was awake but it didn't take long until the little one was up and ready to "help". We got 6 quart jars done and ran out of brine for the pickles so I have a bowl full of pickles waiting for round two in the fridge...

What's Our Favorite Place to Visit....

The zoo of course!! It's even more special when we can go with Papa, Papamom and The Scotts.

Crabby No More

It amazes me sometimes how opposite the boys are. Aiden is an early riser and once he's awake he's out of bed and going for the day. Owen on the other hand likes to sleep a bit later in the morning and needs some time to roll around in his bed before even looking at another human. Most mornings he wakes up and is more than crabby. Gary started putting Layla in his crib in the morning and it's improved his mood tremendously. I'm not sure if Layla really likes it but it sure has improved Owen's mood in the morning!

Changes

Well change can be a good thing and I was needing one in my life....so I quit my job. Upon hearing this Aiden starting crying saying "what about my toys?". I told him not worry I had another job lined up. Work was becoming a stressful, toxic place and I was done with that environment and people. So I went back to a good ol favorite of mine......Kutchey's!!! I'm back working the 10 mile stand four days a week and love it.





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Homemade Laundry Soap

Yes I'm nuts, yes I've made my own laundry soap!

I know a few people who have made their own laundry soap and absolutely love it. I thought I would give it a try...

Homemade Laundry Soap
1/3 bar Ivory soap
½ cup washing soda
½ cup borax powder
~You will also need a small bucket, about 2 gallon size~
(I doubled the recipe and used a 5 gallon bucket)

Grate the soap and put it in a sauce pan. Add 6 cups water and heat it until the soap melts. Add the washing soda and the borax and stir until it is dissolved. Remove from heat. Pour 4 cups hot water into the bucket. Now add your soap mixture and stir. Now add 1 gallon plus 6 cups of water and stir. Let the soap sit for about 24 hours and it will gel. You use ½ cup per load.

Raspberry Jam

My in-laws have raspberry bushes in their garden and this year has been a great crop. The last two years they have hardly got berries, but this year with all the rain and nice warm days, they've had a HUGE crop. The boys and I picked a ton and decided to make some jam. I found the simplest and tastiest recipe, no sure-gel was needed.

Aiden and Owen helped me smash the berries and measure the sugar.



The finished product!!!


Raspberry Jam
4c. mashed raspberries
4c. granulated sugar
1T. lemon juice

Bring 4 cups mashed berries to a boil in pot
Let them boil approx. 2 minutes
Add 4 cups sugar and 1 T. lemon juice
Stir until the sugar dissolves and bring back up to a boil
Let the berry/ sugar mix boil approx. 4 minutes.
Spoon into hot sterilized jars.

Talkin' Tuesday

I have a habit of calling the boys Frick and Frack, so while leaving the house the other day I said to Owen.....

L:"C'mon Frack"

He quickly replied, with a bit of attitude too....

O: "I no Frack, I Onen!"

It's so cute to hear him say his own name. He has a hard time with the "w" and his name always comes out Onen. It's funny the names he has for everyone, he can say Aiden put calls him Dee Dee. His cousin Chloe is always called Clodey. My nephew David is always called Kyle. And the cutest one lately is his new baby cousin Luke is called Wook.

Luke

I had some fun taking pictures of Luke today...it was nice to see him with his eyes open!

Aiden's On Fire....

Aiden has really come out of his shell the last few games. He is getting a bit more aggressive and getting in there to get the ball. His team did so well tonight, they have really started working together.












He looks like he's going to kick some butt in this picture....cracks me up.

Talkin' Tuesday

Aiden loves to check the weather. I can ask what the weather is going to be like today and he'll grab my Iphone and go right to the weather app and tell me if it's going to rain or be sunny and what the tempature will be. Last week was a cold and rainy week and I had made the comment....

L: I hope that it warms up soon.

A: Don't worry mom, Grandpa said it would be in the 70's next week. They are just on vacation right now.

I wish the weather man would put it like that, makes it sound much better....

Make A Wish

Owen blowing out the candles on his monkey cake....

Birthday Boy!

Owen has been talking about his birthday all week. When he woke up Saturday morning and I went to get him from his crib it was a little bittersweet, my baby wasn't a baby anymore. He was so excited to find his present from Gary, Aiden and I on the table. He quickly opened it and was thrilled with his tool set. Of course Aiden was excited about Owen's new toys also, but Owen promptly made it clear that they were all his.

The past two years have gone by in a blur, I've been out numbered in this house of boys and wouldn't change a thing....

Chloe Comes Over To Play

Tim came over to work on the plumbing in the bathroom the other day and brought along Chloe to play with the boys. I was daring enough to pull out the play-doh for all three of the kids to play with


Chloe

Building a tower....

Sooo Big...

I just loved these pictures of Owen and had to share them.  Gary got a new camera so we've been having fun playing....

Talkin' Tuesday

Owen is my little talker, well I guess so is Aiden, but Owen has been a jabbering fool lately....here are a few of his silly sayings....

C'mon dudes....
Shake a my bootay...
Peace Yo...

My favorite lately, I play a game with the boys in the car to keep them occupied.  I say "Who can find a _____", and the boys look out the window to find the random thing I name.  It's usually a flag.  Driving home the other day the boys were quiet, we haven't even played our game that day and I hear from the back seat....

" I see a flag...haha"  

Gotta love the little guy....

Introducing......

The newest member of the Scott Family....

Luke Anthony Scott
April 30, 2010
Born @ 12:44 pm
7lbs 2 oz
20.5 inches





Luke with his proud Daddy



Meeting his big brothers

Update

Updates:

The McFarland's have had a busy few weeks...here's what's going on....

Owen: The little stinker is about a week away from his second birthday. He is such the opposite of Aiden at this age. He's a curious little monkey that gets into things and insists on doing things on his own. Last week I took him for a hair cut and he sure does look like a big kid now. He has no fear when it comes to climbing the tallest slide at the playground and going down all by himself. He LOVES to be outside and swing or play in the dirt. His favorite thing in the world would have to be a ball, and throwing anything he can get his hands on. When Aiden was his age I would ask him, "Whose baby are you?" Aiden would promptly reply "Mommy's". I've started asking Owen the same question, his reply has been...."I a big boy"....

Aiden: He has been enjoying soccer, he has practice every Monday and games on Saturdays. Somehow he ended up on an all girl team but that hasn't bothered him a bit. We've been working on being a bit more aggressive and trying to get the ball, it's such the opposite of Aiden's timid personality so it's been a bit tough. Aiden is a whiz with my IPhone and has more apps on it than I do. He can even search through the app store and find which ones are free so he can download them. Gary's Grandma gave him $5 for Easter recently and he asked me to put in the bank so he could buy more apps.

Gary: He's had a rough few weeks and been down for the count with colitis. He has more tests today, so hopefully we get him well and back to his old self. He's even managed to rub in the fact he's lost 25 lbs in the last few weeks. Not the way he'd want to do it but he still rubs it in.

Lindsey: All I can say is aggghhhhh. I'm ready for the craziness of the last few weeks to slow down a bit. This single parenting I've been doing since Gary has been sick stinks...so far these last few weeks I've dealt with two clogged toilets (thanks Aiden), and cutting the lawn only to have the front wheel fall off and then run it over...

Talkin' Tuesday

Aiden walking around the house with his nose up in the air, sniffing....

A:  What's that wonderful smell?
L:  Lysol

Glad to know that he finds the smell nice, I'm going to be using a lot since Gary has been home sick for two days.

Aiden's First Soccer Game

Aiden had his first soccer game this morning.  He did an awesome job even in the 35 degree weather.  Both teams even scored a few goals.   Hopefully next weekend it's a little warmer...

Oh, he is number 20 in the white jersey by the way.

Easter Eggs

I found the greatest thing to color Easter eggs this year at Walmart. It was an egg spinner, and to top it off it was only 5 bucks!! You put the egg in, put a few drops of colored dye on the egg, snap the top on and push the button to spin the egg. It was fantastic, no spilled dye, no splashing, even Owen could do it.